Ohio House approves data center study group, delays vote on overriding tax exemption

The Ohio House unanimously advanced a bill Wednesday establishing a new data center study commission. But state lawmakers held off on plans to override a data center sales tax exemption — at least for now.

“It’s just simply a matter of, are we going to have 60 people in the chamber (to) vote for an override,” Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman explained. “And you have to have people commit to that.”

Huffman reiterated his opposition to the exemption but said to this point he’s had several members decline to take a firm position. The tax break may have made sense when it was enacted, he added, but it’s just no longer necessary.

“We do not have a dearth of data centers proposed,” Huffman said. “So, I’m going to continue to pursue that. We’re just not going to certainly be able to get it done next week — maybe in May and June.”

The study commission measure, Ohio House Bill 646, now heads to the Ohio Senate.

The commission

The bill’s co-sponsor, Ohio state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, said that opinions on data centers are strong and strongly divided. There are some who want them “no matter what” and others who oppose them “no matter what.”

“They heard a voice coming down from heaven that said, ‘Thou shalt build data centers,’” Click joked. “And they said, no Lord, you got this wrong — let me explain why.”

That’s where the study commission comes in. Click believes the 13-member panel can help lawmakers determine how to craft statewide data center policy. Technology, he said, raises questions faster than lawmakers can respond.

“So, we need to put qualified people in place to answer all these questions,” Click said. “Each of our constituents deserves answers to their questions, and they deserve reasonable, rational, qualified answers.”

The commission’s membership will include individuals with relevant expertise in local government, utilities, agriculture, and data centers themselves, among others.

In a floor amendment, Click added language to the measure directing the House speaker and Senate president to confer with their respective minority leaders before making appointments to the commission.

Click’s co-sponsor Ohio state Rep. Kellie Deeter, R-Norwalk, said the commission “does not rush policy. It allows us to gather the facts first.”

She said the growth of data centers “has implications for our electric grid, our infrastructure, our economic development strategies, and the communities that host them.”

“Rather than waiting to react after challenges arise,” Deeter said, “this legislation allows Ohio to study these issues now so that we can make smart, informed decisions for our future.”

Last minute changes

But Ohio state Rep. Erika White, D-Springfield Twp., proposed a tweak to the commission membership.

She offered a different floor amendment expanding the commission to 15 members.

Under her proposal the governor would appoint one member representing labor and another from the building trades.

“These workers know how these projects go from ground up,” White said. “They know what it takes to build them, maintain them, and support the communities around them.”

Republicans shot down her proposal arguing that the amendment should’ve been raised in committee rather than on the floor.

Asked about the amendment after session, Speaker Huffman struck a conciliatory tone.

“I think it’d be appropriate to have representatives of the trade unions on there, and probably some others, too,” Huffman said.

He suggested that if the amendment had been offered earlier Republicans could’ve chewed over the idea in caucus, and perhaps the vote would’ve gone differently.

The idea shouldn’t have been a surprise, though, as Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn has been publicly calling for labor to have a seat at the table since at least two weeks ago.

Still, Huffman said it would be “perfectly appropriate” for union members to sit on the commission and added “that probably will happen as part of the Senate (process), and I think ultimately we would support that.”